CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. — San Antonio civic and business leaders embarked on a cross-country trip Aug. 11-12 when they flew into Indiana for the unique opportunity to observe the distinctive training being conducted during Vibrant Response 13.

            VR13 is a major incident exercise conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by U.S. Army North at Camp Atterbury, the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, and 10 other training areas and airfields throughout southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. In all, more than 9,000 service members and civilians participated in the Vibrant Response 13.

During their visit, the five leaders were able to not only observe some of the training but to also visit some of the facilities and venues used in the training setting to help them garner a better understanding of the missions performed by U.S. Army North, the San Antonio-based Army service component command.

             The San Antonio delegation spent the weekend in disaster venues, watching first hand as troops performed search and extraction missions, mass decontamination, medical treatment and evacuation of the “victims” of simulated radiological dispersal devices in a major Midwestern city, as part of National Planning Scenario 11.

            The federal interagency – coordinated by the Homeland Security Council and in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security – developed fifteen all-hazards planning scenarios for use in national, state and local homeland security preparedness activities.

            Lt. Gen. William Caldwell IV, along with Maj. Gen. Walter Davis, briefed the San Antonio leaders on the purpose and scope of the exercise. Caldwell is the commanding general of U.S. Army North and senior commander of Fort Sam Houston and Camp Bullis; Davis serves as the command’s deputy commanding general.

            Following the brief, the leaders toured Army North’s Task Force 51, which is a deployable “all-hazards” force based at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. The leaders toured the task force’s ‘Forward Operating Base Bayonet’ in Indiana and spoke with task force members about the unique challenges of working in a radiological environment as opposed to performing lifesaving and life-sustaining missions after a natural disaster.   

            After the tour, they met Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, adjutant general, and Maj. Gen. Omer Clifton Tooley Jr., assistant adjutant general, who are the two senior officers of the Indiana National Guard.

            A helicopter flight to the Muscatatuck Urban Training Facility kicked off the next day’s events. It was at this point that Clifton Rutledge said he realized that the day would be a unique one for him, particularly since it was his first opportunity to fly in a helicopter.

“That’s when it hit me that this wasn’t going to be a typical executive briefing with hours of power point presentations,” he said. “We were going to see things first hand.”

            Rutledge is the chief operating officer for Whataburger Restaurants, LP.  

After getting a birds-eye view of the training facility, they toured a moulage center where hundreds of mannequins and live role players were adorned with movie-quality applications of wounds.

“I have been on multiple major motion picture sets and seen this done by highly paid professionals – and those Soldiers made the wounds look just as good or better,” exclaimed William Moll, president and chief executive officer of Alamo Public Telecommunications Council and KLRN-TV. Moll said he was impressed at the level of realism that the Soldiers from the 311th Quartermaster Company were able to achieve.

“I’ve seen this before,” said Richard Giusti, who was impressed with the level of detail that went into making a mannequin appear to be a severe burn victim.

“I remember pulling a guy out of a burning car,” he explained. “He looked exactly like that (mannequin) over there.”

Giusti, who serves as a San Antonio Fire Department battalion chief, made his observations as he observed the Soldiers in action at the moulage center.

Next, the group watched a technical rescue team from Joint Task Force – Guardian, from the Alabama National Guard extract a victim from a simulated collapsed building by lowering the simulated victim from a third story window. They watched from up close as the Soldiers removed the “trapped” mannequins – at times by using of power tools normally only seen used in road construction.

Next up was watching Soldiers in action at an ad hoc decontamination site.  After going through decon, the victims were then sorted based on the level of care they needed. The group also viewed evacuation from a shanty town, a tour of a jail facility, and observing a makeshift Red Cross center where the victims were brought into prior to being relocated to facilities that could better suit their specific needs before heading back to Camp Atterbury.

Moll said that although he had done some research prior to the tour, his expectations had been greatly exceeded.

The San Antonio and military leaders discussed the role of Army North and its subordinate units, when called upon, in protecting and rescuing Americans in the event of massive disaster through using the methods and techniques they observed.

 Caldwell said that the units that make up the Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosive Response Enterprise are like the nation’s car insurance.

“You don’t buy it because you are planning to have an accident,” he said. “You buy it in case you have an accident.”

-30-

 

MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, Ind. — Richard Giusti, battalion chief, San Antonio Fire Department, speaks of the realism of the injuries portrayed on the mannequin “victims” while observing training Aug 12 during a Vibrant Response 13 leadership tour. Vibrant Response 13 is a major incident exercise conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by U.S. Army North. It takes place over 5,000 square miles of training areas throughout southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky. More than 9,000 participated in the event, to include service members from all branches of the Department of Defense, along with local, state and federal teams.    

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Lee Ezzell, Army North PAO)

MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, Ind. — Civic and business leaders from San Antonio organizations listen Aug. 12 as Maj. Gen. Clifton Tooley, assistant adjutant general, Indiana National Guard, describes the process of building the subway station venue during the Vibrant Response 13 leadership tour. Vibrant Response 13 is a major incident exercise conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by U.S. Army North. It takes place over 5,000 square miles of training areas throughout southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky. More than 9,000 participated in the event, to include service members from all branches of the Department of Defense, along with local, state and federal teams.    

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Lee Ezzell, Army North PAO)

 

MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, Ind. — Civic and business leaders from San Antonio, along with U.S. Army North leadership, watch as a technical rescue team, part of Joint Task Force – Guardian, prepares a mannequin for transport after lowering it from a fourth-story window Aug 12 during Vibrant Response 13. Vibrant Response 13 is a major incident exercise conducted by U.S. Northern Command and led by U.S. Army North. It takes place over 5,000 square miles of training areas throughout southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky. More than 9,000 participated in the event, to include service members from all branches of the Department of Defense, along with local, state and federal teams.    

(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Lee Ezzell, Army North PAO)

-30-